Two triples with blinds

Rixeyville, VA

Sunny, mild winter temps.  Wind calm.

Laddie, Dave, and me training alone, using Bumper Boys and stickmen for extra gunners.  No opportunity to work on honoring. Dave had been able too obtain two chukars.

I told Dave before we started that I didn't want any marks longer than 180y, that I wanted to give Laddie a chance to train on Qual-style triples and blinds. I especially wanted to see his marking without the weather conditions, not typical of Quals I've been to, that have been so much affecting his performance the last few sessions.

Series A. Out-of-order land triple plus blind

For Series A, Dave stood on a hillside at 180y on the right side of the field.  For the first mark, he threw and shot a flyer right to left, with the fall over a crest and invisible from the start line.  For the second mark, I fired a Bumper Boy in the center of the field beside a stickman, left to right on an angle back with the fall at 160y.  For the third mark, I fired a BB on the left of the field beside a stickman, right to left on an angle in at 70y.  A hot blind (OB) at an LP on a 45 degree angle lay on a line behind the middle gun station, with the blind at 220y.  The terrain was hilly, and the line to the blind included a stretch diagonally across a slope.

Although I wanted to run the triple as in an event, Laddie would never have seen the go-bird if I'd just fired it on a normal cadence.  He watched Dave's throw, of course, and seemed to get a reasonable look at the middle throw, but even though I'd shown him all three gun stations (in reverse order) before calling for the first throw, Laddie never turned to look at the stickman on the left, even after I repeatedly sounded the BB's duck call.  The sound was faint, and the woods-encircled field had echoes that made it difficult to pinpoint sounds.  Instead of wasting the setup, I cued "Sit" and moved in front of Laddie to get his attention on me, then repositioned him until he was locked in on the stickman on the left.  I fired that BB and sent Laddie.

Of course, he nailed that mark.  I sent him to the flyer next.  Dave was quite happy with how Laddie ran that mark.  True, Laddie began hunting short, and ended up with a relatively long hunt, but it was within a confined area.  Laddie never considered leaving the area of the fall and never got behind the gun.  Considering the fact that chukars are almost invisible lying in this clumpy hayfield, and apparently have little scent, I guess Dave felt Laddie did a nice job.  I sent Laddie to the middle mark last.  He took a line a bit on the inside but never behind the gun, and darted over to the bumper as soon as he got out there.

Laddie had no difficulty with the blind.

Series B.  Land triple with breaking bird, plus triple

We only moved the gun stations a bit for Series B, but the marks all were thrown in different directions, and we ran from the other side of the field.  The distances were roughly the same, and the blind was once again on a line to the right of the middle gun.

The first mark was a BB and stickman on the right of the field, throwing LTR at 180y.  

Again, I had intended to run this as a triple, but suspecting that Laddie might head-swing to the flyer, I notified Dave that if Laddie looked off either of the first two marks before watching it to the ground, I'd send him immediately.  That's exactly what happened on the first mark.  When I sent him, Laddie didn't no-go, but the line he took showed that he was confused, apparently thinking that at least one of the other marks must have also been thrown and so not knowing what line to take.  He eventually popped, but I just froze.  After a moment or two, he swung around and nailed the mark that had been thrown.

We then ran the middle mark and Dave's mark on the left as a double.  The first mark was a BB and stickman in the middle of the field, throwing LTR at 160y.  The second mark was David throwing and shooting a flyer from the left of the field.  The bird was active, and Dave shot it in such a way that it had a long glide to ground and remained active on the ground, with the fall at 30y.

I would have sent Laddie early again if he'd swung his head, but he didn't, so we ran it as planned.  He nailed both marks.  He then ran the blind needing only one whistle.

Dave asked me afterwards, "Well, are you still worried about Laddie's marking?"  No, I wasn't, although failing to see the last mark in Series A could have knocked us out of an event, as well as head-swinging as Laddie did in Series B.

But Dave and I were both pleased to see that Laddie had learned the intended lesson when he was sent early on the first mark of Series B,  Over all, it seems to have been a productive session.

LL&L

Diversion blinds

Today I took Laddie to the huge field we used to train on with the neighborhood kids, but rarely do these days.  The problem is that it's mostly flat and lacking in features.

However it was good for today's work: a total of twelve blinds, distances in the range 120-250y.

Six of the blinds were 2" orange bumpers, stood up in the dry cover. The other six were 3" white blinds with lining poles.

The orange and white bumpers were in pairs. In each case, the orange bumper was 20y further from the start line than the white bumper and lining pole. The lines to the two were just a few degrees apart, so that Laddie had to run past the white bumper to get to the orange bumper.  For half the pairs, the line to the orange bumper passed to the right of the white bumper. For the other half, the line to the orange bumper passed to the left.

I had Laddie run each pair by handling him to the orange bumper first, then sending him for the white bumper as a freebie, that is, no handling required.

I've heard that judges actually set this sort of thing up occasionally. But more importantly, even without a "poison bird", it's commonplace for the dog to think she knows where the bird is when she doesn't. This drill is intended to help the dog gain experience handling in those situations.

Unfortunately, today's work wasn't much of a challenge for Laddie, but he had fun. Between the blinds and the hey-hey bumpers afterwards, he also got in some work on his endurance, which may have suffered a bit over the winter.

HT training day

Remington, VA

On Sunday, Laddie and I went to a training day with a club that focuses mostly on AKC Hunt Tests and NAHRA events, in contrast to the previous day, when we trained with a group running Field Trial setups.

Sunday's work consisted of a land series featuring a triple and three blinds, followed by a water series again featuring a triple and three blinds.  In each case, the three available blinds were scaled separately for Senior, Master, and Field Trial dogs, with no dog running more than two of them.

I was pleased with Laddie's marking.  He nailed all six marks, and in the water series, never seemed to consider cheating on the two marks that cut across coves despite the cold air and cold water (it's early February, after all).  Laddie also ran his two land blinds well.  He completed his two water blinds, but I think it would have required a generous judge to call him back on either of them.

While I was pleased to have the opportunity to run Laddie with a group, even on set-ups that were scaled for a Hunt Test, I was also pleased to have the chance to "run" the advanced group.  That is, I got to design the setups, and run the line, for both series.  For the land series, it was just the Senior/Master dogs, including a few dogs who, like, Laddie, will be running in Field Trials this year.  For the water series, instead of a separate novice group, all the dogs ran together, so the setups needed to include versions for dogs at an even wider spectrum of levels.  Some of the other trainers had great suggestions on how we could provide versions for the different levels, and I thought we ended up with good challenges for all the dogs in both series.

It was great fun.

LL&L

Marking

Time is limited, but a quick update is in order. This will briefly cover our last three sessions.

First, I'll mention that both of my feet are gradually improving. My right foot is still too swollen to fit in most of my shoes, but the pain is much better. Meanwhile, the heel pain in my left foot is also diminishing, probably thanks to some suggestions Renee made based on her experience working with clients with plantar facieitis.

Sunday, Laddie and I trained alone with Dave, so Laddie got four triples, each thrown with two Bumper Boy/stickman stations and Dave shooting a flyer as the go-bird. Laddie had a controlled break on the first series, was steady thereafter, including the fourth series, where Dave threw and shot from beside us and the bird fell 2y in front of Laddie. I think Laddie also ran a nice blind that day.

However, Laddie's marking was poor on Sunday. I expressed my concern, and Dave said not to worry. We were training with snow falling and patches of snow on the ground from an earlier snowfall, in 28 degrees. Dave said that those conditions were bound to throw off a dog's marking, because of limited vision, reduced scent, and unfamiliarity.

Nonetheless, since we have no way to train with Field Trial groups, I am concerned about how well Laddie will mark when we resume competition in the spring.

To work more on marking, I thought I'd try running Laddie on poorman quads, thinking that that might be help his preparation. So yesterday and today, we drove to the field at nearby Rolling Ridge.

Each day, we ran a single series, similar to each other though in different locations. I sat Laddie at the start line, then walked out to throw four marks and to drop a blind. I wore a white jacket and fired a pistol for the marks. The marks were three 3" white bumpers plus a 3" black bumper for the longest mark. The blind was a 2" orange bumper. The distances were in the range 150-250y.

I tried to make the blinds difficult, but they were too easy, just one whistle each.

Laddie did seem to have trouble remembering the go-bird yesterday, so much so that I suspect he wasn't paying attention when I threw it

The other problem is that he has become stubborn at deciding which mark to run to, both days repeatedly going for the longest mark when sent to a shorter one. Even when I called him back, lined him up carefully, and he took a good initial line, he'd then serve to his preferred destination.

I think Patty referred to that behavior as "lying", and it would make her furious when one of her dogs did it.

Calling Laddie back and sending him again doesn't seem to work, he just does it again. Yesterday, after four tries, I finally walked up closer, and then he held a good line. Today, on the third try, I blew my whistle and handled him as soon as he veered.

Neither of those solutions seems good from the standpoint of building marking confidence.  Perhaps it would be better to let Laddie make his own choice before sending him. I don't think I've ever been in a competition where I could see any clear disadvantage to that approach, and more often than not, I've seen handlers who fight the dog's preference end up blowing the series.

I guess I'll see how Laddie does over the next few sessions to see if a pattern becomes clearer.

LL&L

A little training

After giving my feet and legs as much rest as possible the last few weeks, this afternoon I took Laddie out for a little work.

Walking a nearby conservation trail, I put Laddie in a sit at the edge of the trail three times. Each time, I walked out into the field to throw three marks and to surreptitiously drop a blind. Within the constraints of training alone, I tried to make the lines a challenging as possible. At least all the marks were "retired". I wore a white jacket, but had to call hey-hey rather than firing a pistol, because I got in trouble for that here once.

The terrain was overgrown and very hilly with uneven footing, and much of the dead vegetation was thorny. My right foot is still too swollen for boots, so I wore running shoes. Inevitably, I turned my ankle over a couple of times, so we'll have to see whether the  pain returns tonight.

Laddie took good lines to the marks, white bumpers all thrown into cover, and handled nicely on the blinds. His crazy-dog enthusiasm was flat inspirational. I didn't realize how much I've missed it.

LL&L

Marking down, steadiness up, handling holding steady

Rixeyville, VA.

Mid 40s, sun and clouds, wind 5mph.

Without realizing it at the time, it seems I injured my right ankle about 10 weeks ago, and it's still not right. Some days, like today, it's just tender. Other days, it's swollen to twice its normal size and is so painful I can't sleep even with maximum dose of OTC pain meds.

On top of that, other injuries that I suspect are caused by adjustments I make in my gait also keep cropping up, on both left and right feet and ankles.

I've made several visits to doctors and I've taken the tests they recommended. All negative so far.

I think what happened was a simple sprain, which has lingered and spread its effects because I am unable to give it the rest it needs. My client is in a large complex of buildings and frequent long walks during the day are unavoidable. However, the last few weeks I have made every effort to at least minimize time in the field with the dogs.  I think walking hundreds of yards on uneven ground to set up blinds and run marks for Laddie, and handle Lumi in tracking, was especially aggravating the injury.

So our training has been minimal. During the week, I throw bumpers and play tug with Lumi and Laddie to give them as much activity as possible. Most weekends, we train with Dave, and whenever possible his training buddy.  We train on some hilly hay fields in the area of Warrenton, VA.  He generally brings four birds, which he shoots as flyers. We use hand thrown dead birds or Bumper Boys and stickmen for the other marks.

Today was typical.  We used two land triples, both Qual scale, each including a land blind that I ran Laddie on after his marks. Dave also set up a final blind for Laddie at the end of the session. For each series, Laddie ran the series first, then honored Lumi as she ran it. Lumi was sent only to pick up the flyer.

When we have another handler, that person handles Lumi so that I can stand with Laddie during the honor.  On those days when it's just Dave and I, like today, Laddie has to do a remote honor (no handler at his side) as I hold Lumi while the marks are thrown. As soon as I release Lumi, she always goes straight for the flyer. I return to Laddie, heel him to the van, and play with him. Lumi generally marks well and runs hard to the bird, but takes forever on the returns.

After so many weeks of this kind of work, Laddie seems to have made great progress on his steadiness. We'll continue this way to the spring, whenever weather permits, and I'm hoping Laddie won't be DQing on breaks when we resume competition.

Laddie seems to be holding his own on blinds, too: generally good enough for Qual or Master, I believe, but perhaps not good enough for All Age at times.

My greatest concern is Laddie's marking. Laddie had always been one of the top markers on the field at every level of competition, but to me it appears that his marking is deteriorating this winter. I attribute this primarily to my inability to find a training group with whom we can train. I can only hope that when spring comes, I'll discover I was wrong and Laddie's marking is as good as ever after all.

LL&L

Lumi tracking

Laytonsville Park. Still sunny, 47 degrees, light wind.

Both dogs stayed in the van while I laid the track.   Laddie stayed in his crate when Lumi was working.

Track was aged 30 min.  Treats (pieces of sliced ham)  in footprints at irregular intervals, ranging 3-20 feet.  Lumi was on a 30 foot line, which I kept off the ground but not taut.

The track: 60y with serpentine at 10-20y. Right angle corner to left. 70y straight. Right angle corner to right. 20y to the glove.

The track crossed a paved walkway, passed near trees, a picnic bench, and an outdoor grill, went over lawn, leaves, bare patches under trees, and over a branch, which Lumi went around.

Lumi stated motivated, kept her head down, scented every footstep, found every treat, and took every turn, working the entire track without any guidance from me. This was her longest track yet.

LL&L

Steady honoring a duck flyer at 20 yards

Rixeyville. Delightful sunny day, low forty's, light wind.

To make the training environment more realistic, I set up a holding blind at both start lines. Dave, as gunner, wore a white jacket. Dave's training buddy handled Lum in both series.

Laddie and Lumi both wore their tabs, but I never touched Laddie's.

A) Land triple. First,180y money bird thrown by a Bumper Boy with a stickman. Next, a duck thrown at 60 yards with shotgun blast. Finally, a duck flyer thrown and shot in the middle at 70 yards.

First Laddie ran the triple, marking poorly but steady as a rock.  Then he honored Lumi, making it look easy.

I'm not too worried about the marking. Laddie hasn't seen duck flyers in months. He was pumped. I think he can mark.

B) Another land triple similar to Series A, but new location and mirror image. Most importantly, the go-bird duck flyer was thrown in the middle at just 20 yards.

This time Laddie nailed all his marks, and was again steady both working and honoring.

Dude. Twenty yards.

LL&L